Lise T. Spacapan* & Jill M. Hutchison**

Transcription

1 Prosecutions of Pharmaceutical Companies for Off-Label Marketing: Fueled By Government s Desire to Modify Corporate Conduct or Pursuit of a Lucrative Revenue Stream? Lise T. Spacapan* & Jill M. Hutchison** INTRODUCTION It has been estimated that health care fraud and abuse costs the federal government tens of billions of dollars every year.1 Admirably, government officials actively root out fraud and aggressively seek penalties to recoup some of the dollars lost on fraudulent expenditures. Hundreds of civil and criminal investigations are currently ongoing against the health care industry brought by the federal government, along with associated investigations by state attorneys general.2 Recently, Attorney General Eric Holder stated during the National Summit on Health Care Fraud that: In 2009, the Justice Department reached an all-time high in the number of health care fraud defendants charged, more than 800. We also obtained more than 580 convictions. And on the civil enforcement front, our health care fraud recoveries last year under the false Claims Act exceeded a 3 stunning $2.2 billion dollars. In this environment, it is becoming almost commonplace for large pharmaceutical companies to settle single fraud and abuse cases brought by * Lise Spacapan is a partner in the Chicago office of Husch Blackwell LLP. ** Jill Hutchison is a partner in the Chicago office of Jenner & Block LLP. 1. Donald M. Berwick & Andrew D. Hackbarth, Eliminating Waste in US Health Care, 307 JAMA 1513, 1514 (2012). In this April 2012 study, former CMS Administrator Donald M. Berwick and RAND Corporation analyst Andrew D. Hackbarth estimated that fraud and abuse added as much as $98 billion to Medicare and Medicaid spending in Id. 3. Eric Holder, U.S. Attorney General, Speech at the National Summit on Health Care Fraud (Jan. 28, 2010), available at (emphasis added). 407 Vol. 22, 2013 Reprinted with permission from, the Health Policy and Law Review of Loyola University of Chicago School of Law

2 408 the government for hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars, rather than risk the stiff fines and possible corporate death penalty of exclusion from doing business with the government under Medicare, Medicaid, and other federally-funded health care programs. Many of these high-profile cases involve allegations that the companies callously and blatantly promoted their products for purposes that are not approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration ( FDA ), putting profits before safety in disregard for public health.4 Under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act ( FDCA ), as interpreted by the government, pharmaceutical manufacturers may not promote their products for any off-label use that is not approved by the FDA.5 Drug companies have an obvious financial motivation to increase drug sales, whether for indicated or off-label uses. Some commentators take comfort in the fact that the spread of false information is deterred by the current regulatory system, which exposes the manufacturer to potential liability under both criminal and civil laws and sometimes results in personal liability on the part of corporate officers. The government has a number of tools to prosecute off-label promotion.6 And it has done so with a vengeance over the last decade, primarily invoking the False Claims Act. 7 A journalist for the Chicago Tribune recently concluded after reviewing the dozens of massive settlements in cases involving off-label promotion of drugs and other health care fraud, even when companies are faced with large fines [i]t is still good business to promote drugs illegally. 8 According to Eric Blumberg, a litigation deputy for the FDA s office of chief counsel, [t]he government needs to start prosecuting individuals if [it] want[s] to deter this conduct. 9 Current regulatory law in the United States, however, lacks clarity with 4. See infra Section II.B, listing many of the high-profile investigations that were settled for high dollar figures. 5. Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, 21 U.S.C. 331(a), (b), 352(a) (2011); see also statutes cited infra notes See U.S. GOV T ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE, GAO , Prescription Drugs: FDA s Oversight Of The Promotion Of Drugs For Off-Label Uses 19, 26 (2008), available at (discussing the FDA s review of promotional materials and options for addressing materials that violate the prohibition on off-label marketing). Options available for prosecuting off-label promotion include the FDA s issuing regulatory letters, issuing violations, and referring matters to the DOJ for enforcement action of the type discussed infra. 7. See generally False Claims Act, 31 U.S.C (2010). 8. Erin Gabler, Whistle-blower Suits Target Abbott s Off-label Selling of Epilepsy Drug Depakote, CHI. TRIB. (Nov. 13, 2011), (quoting Dr. Adraine Fugh-Berman, director of PharmedOut). 9. Id.

3 409 respect to the specific conduct that is or is not permissible when the pharmaceutical company communicates information about its products. It is reasonable to question whether the regulations as interpreted are appropriately and narrowly tailored, because they unquestionably make it illegal to disseminate even truthful, scientific information about the product if it relates to an off-label use. The criminalization of this information and the prospect of the additional suits that often trail behind a U.S. Department of Justice ( DOJ ) allegation creates a strong incentive to curtail not only more questionable marketing practices, but also to research and disseminate truthful information about the drug s applicability to other conditions and populations that may not be profitable enough to warrant seeking a labeling change. Section I of this article begins by tracing the federal regulations in the FDCA that govern pharmaceutical company information about off-label uses of drugs. This section includes discussion of the expansive definition of drug labeling and the statutory prohibition on selling new or misbranded drugs. Section II turns to the DOJ s aggressive enforcement of perceived regulatory violations, such as those arising from off-label marketing, primarily under the False Claims Act. This enforcement typically includes the government s draconian threat of exclusion, which bars a company from doing business with the federal government under health care programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. Section III explores two serious concerns that call into question the DOJ s aggressive approach: (A) the prevalence of off-label prescription drug use in health care today, and the dichotomy between what the physician can prescribe and the drug company can discuss; and (B) the shaky constitutionality of the government s attempts to regulate speech in this area. Next, in Section IV, several factual examples of government prosecutions are explored, including some of the fundamental challenges to them with a spotlight on the question of whether the restrictions on industry inure to the public interest. In Section V, this paper highlights the added financial costs that often follow DOJ scrutiny, in the form of suits by zealous state attorneys general and allegedly-aggrieved consumers, third party payors, and shareholders. Finally, Section VI addresses the important health policy at issue, and asks whether the current enforcement environment is changing industry conduct and leading to public benefit. In the end, this article questions the premise that the massive settlements of recent years are good for the public, and that the payment of these astronomical sums is viewed by industry as merely a cost of doing business. There is a serious problem with these prosecutions due to the lack of certainty on the part of the pharmaceutical industry about what is, and what is not, permissible in detailing the product and providing

4 410 scientific and educational material to physicians. One can reasonably question whether the government s goal is to induce a change in industry conduct, as opposed to continuing to generate a windfall and substantial revenue stream for government, with no reasonable expectation that conduct is actually being modified. The practice may enrich the United States Treasury at the expense of consumers from whom the costs will be extracted. 10 I. FDCA REGULATION OF INFORMATION ABOUT OFF-LABEL USES OF DRUGS Regulations regarding the approval process and subsequent sale of pharmaceuticals are set forth in the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of 1938, as amended ( FDCA ).11 The United States Food & Drug Administration ( FDA ) is the agency authorized to regulate the promotion of prescription drugs.12 The FDCA does not discuss whether a drug manufacturer may distribute or communicate any information about potential off-label uses of its approved drugs. However, the FDCA provision regarding new drugs, coupled with regulations promulgated by the FDA, essentially acts to regulate off-label promotion.13 The FDCA expressly prohibits the introduction of a new drug into commerce.14 A new drug is defined as one which is not generally recognized... as safe and effective for use under the conditions prescribed, recommended, or suggested in the labeling. 15 Further, regulations make it clear that a drug that has been approved for use to treat some condition in some population, may nonetheless be a new drug depending on its label: the newness of a drug may arise by reason (among other reasons) of... [t]he newness of use of such drug in diagnosing, curing, mitigating, treating, or preventing a disease, or to affect a structure or function of the body, even though such drug is not a new drug when used in another disease or to affect another structure or function of the body. 16 If a manufacturer distributes a drug with a label other than that approved by the FDA, it is considered a new drug Vicki Girard, Punishing Pharmaceutical Companies for Unlawful Promotion of Approved Drugs: Why the False Claims Act Is the Wrong Rx, 12 J. HEALTH CARE L. & POL Y 119, 130 (2009). 11. Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, 21 U.S.C (2006) U.S.C. 352(a), 352(n), 393(a)-(d) (2006) U.S.C.A. 331; 21 C.F.R. Pt U.S.C. 355; 21 C.F.R (d); 21 U.S.C. 352(a) U.S.C. 321(p) (2006) (emphasis added) C.F.R (1999). 17. See 21 U.S.C. 321(p)(1) (2009).

5 411 Labeling includes all written, printed, or graphic materials that accompany the drug.18 The FDA s authority in the area of off-label marketing arises from its expansive definition of label. 19 The FDA regulations have been interpreted to sweep more broadly than the plain language of the statute in prohibiting communications by the manufacturer in many contexts. The regulations have been used to control advertising and even discussions between the drug manufacturer and physicians.20 Indeed, in combination with its authority over promotional labeling, the FDA s regulatory oversight of prescription drug marketing extends to practically every type of material and media imaginable. 21 One commentator noted that FDA regulations restrict company activities in this area to a much greater extent than the FDCA s statutory scheme. For example, the FDA defines labeling to include virtually anything that a company or its employees might produce or present Thus, the manufacturer may not make statements or provide information about its drug even if true without the approval of the FDA. In addition to the prohibition on selling new drugs, the FDCA prohibits the sale of a misbranded drug.23 A drug is considered misbranded if it includes inadequate directions for use, or if the labeling bears false and misleading information.24 In practice, if the manufacturer provides information to a prescriber relating to an off-label use, the government will argue that the approved label is inadequate and/or misleading because that labeling does not address the safety and efficacy of the drug for that offlabel use.25 As with defining what a new drug is, the misbranding provisions have been interpreted as constituting any false or misleading statements in the labeling or materials provided with the drug, including directions for use.26 The intended use of the product has been interpreted to include any use that the manufacturer intends based on the label, advertisements or any statements made to physicians.27 Thus, arguably if U.S.C. 321(m) (2009) U.S.C. 321(k) (2009). 20. See 21 C.F.R (1998); 21 C.F.R (2008); 21 C.F.R (1998). 21. Girard, supra note 10, at John E. Osborn, Can I Tell You the Truth? A Comparative Perspective on Regulating Off-Label Scientific and Medical Information, 10 YALE J. HEALTH POL Y L. & ETHICS 299, 308 (2010). See also Kordel v. United States, 335 U.S. 345, 350 (1948) (defining literature that accompanies drugs) U.S.C. 331(a), (b) (2013); 21 U.S.C. 352(a) (2012) U.S.C. 352 (f) and (a) (defining inadequate directions for use and false and misleading label, respectively) U.S.C. 352 (f) and (a) C.F.R (2012) C.F.R (2012).

6 412 any statement is made regarding a use that is not included in the FDAapproved labeling, then the drug has been misbranded. 28 Another commentator argues that: [m]any regard this interpretation as awkward at best and untenable at worst. 29 On the other hand, courts have held that it is a question of fact whether labeling is false or misleading. 30 Therefore, expert testimony regarding safety and efficacy could show that information communicated regarding an off-label use was not, in fact misleading.31 If a company introduces a drug into interstate commerce, a misdemeanor violation occurs if the drug qualifies as either a new drug or misbranded under the FDCA.32 For a misdemeanor, the regulations do not require any specific intent to mislead.33 To prove a felony, the government must show intent to defraud or mislead.34 The government s broad interpretation of the regulatory framework would seem justified in contexts where there is strong evidence that the pharmaceutical company made blatantly false statements to physicians to encourage increased use of a drug for an unapproved purpose. However, as will be discussed infra, the evidence is not always so clear; yet, companies are not in a position to battle the government to a conclusion on the merits when exclusion from participation in government-funded healthcare programs is threatened. For example, in United States ex rel. Franklin v. Parke-Davis, drug company Parke-Davis argued that the FCA relator failed to show that Parke-Davis made any material false statement.35 The court held that to pursue the prosecution, the government need not show that Parke-Davis lied to physicians about safety or efficacy to induce prescriptions.36 Rather, it was enough that the company promoted an unapproved use.37 In sum, when a drug company promotes in a way that is inconsistent with 28. Osborn, supra note 22, at Id. at 310; see also Allison D. Burroughs, et al., Off-Label Promotion: Government Theories of Prosecution and Facts that Drive Them, 65 FOOD & DRUG L. J. 555, 563 (setting forth an untested but clear argument regarding why drugs should be exempt from the adequate directions for use provision of the misbranding statute). 30. E.g., United States v. An Article of Drug Consisting of 47 Bottles, More or Less, Jenesol RJ Formula 60, 320 F.2d 564, 571 (3d Cir. 1963); Colusa Remedy Co. v. United States, 176 F.2d 554, 561 (8th Cir. 1949). 31. United States v. Sene X Eleemosynary Corp., 479 F. Supp. 970, 980 (S.D. Fla. 1979) U.S.C. 331 (2012). 33. United States v. Mitcheltree, 940 F.2d 1329, 1351 (10th Cir. 1991). 34. Id. 35. U.S. ex rel. Franklin v. Parke-Davis, 147 F. Supp. 2d 39, 52 (D. Mass. 2001). 36. Id. 37. Id.

7 413 the label, the FDCA gives rise to charge that the company either: 1) introduced a new drug into commerce under 21 U.S.C. 331(d) (prohibiting the introduction or delivery for introduction into interstate commerce of a new drug as defined under 355 of the FDCA); or 2) misbranded the drug under 21 U.S.C. 331(a) (prohibiting the introduction or delivery for introduction into interstate commerce of any drug that is misbranded); 352(a) (defining any drug as misbranded if its labeling is false or misleading); or 352(f)(1) (defining as misbranded if it lacks adequate 38 directions for use). II. THE DECLINE OF FDA ACTION AND EMERGENCE OF AGGRESSIVE DOJ ENFORCEMENT Until recently, the FDA exercised nearly exclusive regulatory authority over pharmaceutical companies promotional activities related to prescription drugs.39 The FDA has rarely pursued punitive sanctions.40 Perhaps this restraint is driven, at least in part, by the need for partnership between the Agency and the pharmaceutical industry in pursuit of good science and the interests of public health. Certainly, there is a long history of the FDA reviewing drug company advertising, and on occasion sending warning letters and the like, and instructions to cure misleading messages. Given the staggering number of advertisements and communications between drug companies and the medical community, however, this has proven not to be a robust method of enforcement. Further, as will be discussed in Section V, infra, the constitutionality of the FDA s regulation of off-label uses has been successfully challenged in the courts, and some have speculated that this has led to reduced enforcement. Whatever the reason for FDA restraint in enforcement, the DOJ has emerged in the last decade as a more strident crusader in searching for violations of the off- 38. U.S. DEPT. OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERV., GUIDANCE FOR INDUSTRY: GOOD REPRINT PRACTICES FOR THE DISTRIBUTION OF MEDICAL JOURNAL ARTICLES AND MEDICAL OR SCIENTIFIC REFERENCE PUBLICATIONS ON UNAPPROVED NEW USES OF APPROVED DRUGS AND APPROVED OR CLEARED MEDICAL DEVICES (2009), available at OHRMS/DOCKETS/98fr/FDA-2008-D-0053-gdl.pdf. 39. See Thompson Med. Co. v. Fed. Trade Comm n, 791 F.2d 189, 192 (D.C. Cir. 1986); see also Memorandum of Understanding Between the Federal Trade Commission and the Food and Drug Administration, 36 Fed. Reg. 18,539 (Sept. 16, 1971). 40. U.S. GOV T ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE, GAO , PRESCRIPTION DRUGS: FDA S OVERSIGHT OF THE PROMOTION OF DRUGS FOR OFF-LABEL USES (2008), available at

8 414 label marketing regulations.41 A. False Claims Act In recent years, the DOJ dramatically expanded its prosecutions for offlabel marketing using the False Claims Act ( FCA ).42 Although claims for violations of the FDCA may be included in these prosecutions, the FCA has become the primary vehicle for government health care fraud enforcement, which carries the potential for both criminal and civil liability.43 Under the FCA, a company is liable to the government if it knowingly presents, or causes to be presented... [to the government] a false or fraudulent claim for payment or approval. 44 Qui tam suits are common under the FCA. These involve a private citizen (referred to as the relator or sometimes as a whistleblower ) bringing suit against the drug company on behalf of the government. The matters are filed under seal and the government is given an opportunity to investigate the allegations and determine whether to intervene in the suit. If there is a recovery, the private individual can collect between fifteen to thirty percent of the government s recovery plus attorneys fees and costs.45 Thus, private individuals have a powerful incentive to blow the whistle. A typical FCA suit against a drug company will allege that the company systematically promoted the drug for an off-label use, and that this promotion caused physicians to prescribe the medicine for that use, in turn leading to payments by the government usually under Medicare or Medicaid for such off-label prescription. These suits are usually civil in nature, although there is a criminal FCA counterpart.46 It has been postulated that the government believes the false claims theory is too attenuated for use in a criminal prosecution, and thus uses the FDCA criminal provisions, which were described in Section I above.47 Because the FCA is a fraud statute, claims under it must be pled with particularity, consistent with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 9(b).48 Some FCA cases have been dismissed when the relator did not plead with 41. Girard, supra note 10, at U.S.C. 287 (2011). 43. D. Douglas, et al., Presentation at DRI Annual Meeting: Trends in Criminal and Civil Sanctions for Health Care Fraud Under the False Claims Act (October 2011) U.S.C. 3729(a)(1) (2011) U.S.C (2012) U.S.C Burroughs, supra note 29, at FED. R. CIV. P. 9(b).

9 415 particularity the details of any false claim for government reimbursement.49 Because the drug companies themselves do not submit claims for reimbursement to the government, the FCA theory is that the company s unlawful marketing for an off-label use is the reason a physician prescribed the medication.50 According to some courts, even a truthful statement made by the drug company can be the foundation of a false claim based on misbranding if the use is off-label.51 The court in Parke-Davis found that a violation of the FDCA for off-label promotion may be sufficient in itself to establish liability under the FCA, whether or not the underlying promotional statements were false.52 Thus, the FCA does not require both a false statement and a false claim under the court s ruling. Parke-Davis had argued that forty-two state Medicaid programs permitted off-label prescriptions and, thus, there were no false claims made in those states.53 The court disagreed, noting that the relator had treatment histories of many patients that reflected the drug was prescribed off-label, which was illegal in at least some states.54 Parke-Davis also argued that because it did not directly submit claims to the government, it therefore did not cause a false claim to be submitted.55 The court disagreed on this point too, holding that company acts could be a substantial factor in the physicians prescriptions leading to the claims for reimbursement that were ultimately made.56 Importantly, the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act ( FERA ) was enacted in 2009, revising aspects of the FCA.57 Under the statute, there can be liability even when the false claim was not submitted to the government, but to a private contractor or agent, thus removing one protection that certain cases had applied previously.58 The definition of claim was broadened and the statute of limitations expanded U.S. ex rel. Roop v. Hypoguard USA, Inc., 559 F.3d 818, (8th Cir. 2009); see also Burroughs, supra note 29, at See U.S ex rel. Kennedy v. Aventis Pharm., Inc., 512 F. Supp. 2d 1158, 1163 (N.D. Ill. 2007). 51. See U.S. ex rel. Franklin v. Parke-Davis, No. Civ.A PBS, 2003 WL at *2 (D. Mass. Aug. 22, 2003). 52. Id. 53. Id. at * Id. 55. Id. at *4-5; U.S. ex rel. Franklin v. Parke-Davis, 147 F. Supp. 2d 39, (D. Mass. 2001). 56. Franklin, 2003 WL at *6; Franklin, 147 F. Supp. 2d at See generally Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act of 2009, Pub. L , 123 Stat (2009). 58. See Id. at See Id. at

10 416 B. Penalties and Exclusion The FCA provides for civil penalties of $5, to $10, for each false claim submitted.60 Thus, if the government can show substantial offlabel prescription, the fine mounts swiftly. Also, the damages in an FCA matter can be triple the amount actually billed to the government.61 In recent settlements, pharmaceutical companies have paid billions to resolve some prosecutions. A November 13, 2011 Chicago Tribune article62 reported on known settlements with the DOJ, and the settlement amounts were staggering: 60. False Claims, 31 U.S.C (2009); Adjustments to Penalties, 64 Fed. Reg , (Aug. 12, 1999) (to be codified at 31 U.S.C 3719 (a)); see also J. Andrew Jackson & Erin Wilcox Burns, Feature Comment: The FCA s Penalty ProvisionConsistently Inconsistent, THE GOV T CONTRACTOR, May 2, 2012, at 1. (64 Fed. Reg , at 85.3(a)(9) established a mandatory range for FCA penalties between $5,500 and $11,000). Note: according to several sources, 64 Fed. Reg , at 85.3(a)(9) established a mandatory range for FCA penalties between $5,500 and $11, U.S.C (a)(7). 62. Ellen Gabler, Whistle-blower Suits Target Abbott s Off-label Selling of Epilepsy Drug Depakote, CHI. TRIB., Nov. 13, 2011.

11 Pharmaceutical companies have conceded to more high-dollar settlements with the DOJ in the short time since that article was published. These settlements increasingly also address the state actions that now commonly follow in the wake of aggressive DOJ action against a pharmaceutical company.64 In May 2012, Abbott announced a $1.6 billion settlement to resolve allegations related to alleged off-label marketing of anti-seizure drug Depakote.65 The settlement included a criminal fine and forfeiture of $700 million.66 It also included a civil settlement to resolve false claims allegations, which involved a $560 million payment to the federal government and payment of $240 million to resolve the claims of forty-nine states and the District of Columbia.67 Additionally, Abbott agreed to pay a further $100 million to states to resolve consumer protection claims.68 In the summer of 2012, Johnson & Johnson agreed in principal to resolve several off-label marketing allegations related to antipsychotic Risperdal.69 The settlement with the federal government to 63. Id. at For more information of tag-along state actions, see discussion infra Part V.A. 65. Press Release, Dep t of Justice: Abbott Labs to Pay $1.5 Billion to Resolve Criminal and Civil Investigations of Off-Label Promotion of Depakote: Company Maintained Specialized Sales Force to Market Drug for Off Label Purposes; Targeted Elderly Dementia Patients in Nursing Homes (May 7, 2012), available at justice.gov/opa/pr/2012/may/12-civ-585.html. 66. Id. 67. Id. 68. Press Release, Abbott Labs, Abbott Reaches Settlement Agreement on Depakote (May 7, 2012), -agreement-on-depakote.htm. 69. Jonathan D. Rockoff & Joann S. Lublin, J&J Penalty May Total $2.2 Billion:

12 418 resolve both criminal and civil claims is expected to total as much as $2.2 billion.70 Johnson & Johnson also agreed to settle thirty-six states and the District of Columbia s claims for $181 million, combined.71 Despite the substantial fines that can be exacted on a company for FCA violations, these enormous settlements may be driven by corporate fear of exclusion, rather than of monetary damages. Exclusion is an administrative sanction that is imposed by the Department of Health and Human Services ( HHS ), barring individuals and entities from participating in federal health care programs, including Medicare and Medicaid, if they have been convicted of certain crimes or had other enforcement taken against them. 72 Exclusion is mandatory if the individual or entity has been convicted of a felony related to health care fraud.73 Additionally, HHS has discretion to exclude individuals or entities that have been found guilty of misdemeanor fraud, either health care-related or non-health care-related,74 including fraud under the FDCA.75 These FCA exclusion rules were significantly expanded in HHS revised the rule to give the Office of Inspector General ( OIG ) the authority to exclude drug manufacturers from receiving federal health care program reimbursements if they are found to have engaged in significant financial or other impropriety.77 Corporate officers as well as companies can be excluded, even when there is no evidence that they had personal knowledge of the conduct that Settlement Over Risperdal Marketing Would Include $400 Million Criminal Fine, WALL ST. J., July 19, 2012, html [hereinafter Rockoff & Lublin]; see discussion infra Part V.A. 70. Id. 71. Press Release, Johnson & Johnson, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Announces RIPSERDAL Consumer Protection Settlement with 36 States and the District of Columbia (Aug. 30, 2012), In addition to the District of Columbia, the following thirty-six states are part of the settlement: Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. Id. 72. Exclusion of Certain Individuals and Entities From Participation in Medicare and State Health Care Programs, 42 U.S.C. 1320a-7 (2010) a-7(a)(3) a-7(b)(1)(A)(i)-(ii), 1320a-7(b)(1)(B). 75. See discussion supra Part I. 76. See Health Care Programs: Fraud and Abuse; Revised OIG Exclusion Authorities Resulting from Public Law , 63 Fed. Reg. 46,676, 46,676, 46, (Sept. 2, 1998) (codified at 42 C.F.R. Pts. 1000, 1001, 1002, 1005) (expanding the scope of exclusion from only entities that provide services directly to patients to all entities) amended by 64 Fed. Reg. 39,420 (July 22, 1999) (refining the 1998 rule). 77. See 42 C.F.R (2002).

13 419 led to the misdemeanor conviction.78 In Friedman v. Sebelius, the court described the responsible corporate officer doctrine and explained that: [T]he liability of the managerial officers did not depend on their knowledge of or personal participation in, the act made criminal by the statute, but rather on an omission or failure to act when the agent, by virtue of the relationship he bore to the corporation,... had the power to prevent the act complained of. 79 The threat of exclusion has been described as the corporate death sentence. 80 Pharmaceutical companies faced with exclusion in off-label marketing matters have demonstrated a decided aversion to testing whether an exclusion will be imposed. Even if an exclusion were to be ultimately overturned on appeal, by that time, it might well be too late for the company s survival. It is up to the various government prosecutors to decide whether to seek permissive exclusion, and the decision rests with the Secretary of Health and Human Services.81 When faced with a government prosecution, pharmaceutical companies have particularly limited bargaining power when there is a threat of corporate exclusion and potential for vicarious liability and personal exclusion of executives. Settlement looks more attractive when juxtaposed with the costs of defense and perhaps the prospect of public disclosure of inflammatory documents regarding marketing practices, even when those may be merely by a rogue drug representative who overzealously tried to increase sales by pushing off-label prescriptions. Finally, as OIG itself recognized, it often: [N]egotiates compliance obligations with health care providers... as part of the settlement of... investigations arising under a variety of civil... false claims statutes.... A provider... consents to [these obligations]... in exchange for OIG s agreement not to seek to exclude that... entity from participation 78. See e.g., 42 U.S.C. 1320a-7a(b)(1)(A)(ii) ( The secretary may exclude... from participation in any Federal health care program... [a]ny individual... that has been convicted... of a... misdemeanor relating to fraud, theft, embezzlement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other financial misconduct with respect to any act or omission in a health care program ). 79. Friedman v. Sebelius, 755 F. Supp. 2d 98, 112 (D.D.C. 2010) (quoting United States v. Park, 421 U.S. 658, (1975)) rev d on other grounds, 686 F.3d 813 (D.C. Cir. 2012). 80. See Ronald H. Clark, Gabriel L. Imperato & Robert Salcido, HHS Expanded Use of Fraud Law s Corporate Death Sentence Is Legally Suspect, LEGAL BACKGROUNDER, June 6, 2003, at 2. See also Linda A. Baumann et al., HEALTH CARE FRAUD AND ABUSE: PRACTICAL PERSPECTIVES 32 (Linda A. Baumann et al eds., 2002) U.S.C. 1320a-7(b).

14 420 in Medicare, Medicaid and other Federal health care programs.82 III. THE GOVERNMENT AGGRESSIVELY PURSUES OFF-LABEL MARKETING DESPITE TWO SERIOUS CONCERNS A. The Off-Label Prescription of Drugs is Legal and Sometimes Medically Necessary Off-label uses include the prescription of the drug at a dose not approved in the label, to a patient population not approved, or to treat a condition either not considered or considered and rejected by FDA. What is essential to understand, and difficult to accept analytically, is that physicians can legally prescribe FDA-approved drugs for any therapeutic use that is appropriate in their medical judgment.83 Given the expansive regulatory interpretations,84 it might seem surprising that the courts and government expressly recognize that off-label use is an accepted and necessary corollary of the FDA s mission to regulate in this area without directly interfering with the practice of medicine.85 Off-label use is widespread in the medical community and often is essential to giving patients optimal medical care As the statute itself reflects, nothing in the Food and Drug and Cosmetic Act shall be construed to limit or interfere with the authority of a healthcare practitioner to prescribe or administer any legally marketed device to a patient for any condition or disease A physician may prescribe a legal drug to serve any purpose that he or she deems appropriate, regardless of whether the drug has been approved for that use by the FDA. 88 This arrangement leads to a certain asymmetry in the regulation of off-label uses: while physicians may lawfully prescribe drugs for off-label uses, the FDCA generally prohibits manufacturers from marketing these uses to physicians. 89 Off-label drug prescriptions are very common in medical practice. By one account, over twenty percent of all prescriptions are off-label.90 In some fields, off-label use is even more prevalent. For example, The 82. Notice for Potential Monitors for Quality-of-Care Corporate Integrity Agreements, 74 Fed. Reg. 52,964, 52, (Oct. 15, 2009). 83. Use of Approved Drugs for Unlabeled Indications, 12 FDA Drug Bull. 1 at 4-5 (1982). 84. See discussion supra Part I. 85. Buckman v. Plaintiffs Legal Comm., 531 U.S. 341, 350 (2001). 86. Id U.S.C Wash. Legal Found. v. Henney, 202 F.3d 331, 333 (D.C. Cir. 2000). 89. In re Schering Plough Corp. Intron/Temodar Consumer Class Action, 678 F.3d 235, 240 (3d Cir. 2012). 90. A. Kesselheim, Off-label Drug Use and Promotion: Balancing Public Health Goals and Commercial Speech, 37 A. J. L. & Med. 225, (2001).

15 421 American Society of Clinical Oncology reported that an astounding fifty percent to seventy percent of cancer treatments are prescribed off-label.91 In pediatrics, it is well known that although many drugs have not been tested in children and therefore cannot include label directions for use in children, they nonetheless may be the only effective treatment in the pediatric population.92 A similar situation exists in elderly populations. Medicare and private insurers pay for some off-label uses of drugs, and such can be considered state of the art.93 Without off-label prescribing, key populations of patients may go without needed medicine. Just as clearly, however, off-label prescription of drugs can be dangerous and sometimes is based on unproven assumptions about benefit and risk.94 For those uninitiated in the complex and expensive New Drug Application process, it may seem desirable for pharmaceutical companies to test drugs in all patient populations, at all doses and for all disease endpoints. It is beyond the scope of this paper to discuss in detail the new drug approval process.95 But the nature of the rigorous testing the FDA justly requires to prove both safety and efficacy leads to narrowly-focused testing protocols where the drug is given to a discrete population of patients, at specific doses, and for specific diseases or conditions. Once years of testing have been completed and the drug is approved for sale, it often is not in the manufacturer s best interest nor is it required by any regulation to begin again to test the drug in other populations. As aptly described by one commentator, [T]hough new indications may be added to a drug s label through a supplemental new drug application, this occurs infrequently: generic drugs lack a corporate sponsor to bear the required expenses, and for brand-name drugs that are already widely used off-label, conducting a costly clinical trial that could produce nonsupportive evidence is a potentially risky business decision.96 Thus, whether a drug is effective either for conditions/diseases other than those approved in the label or in populations other than those in which it was tested, is often a question left to the medical community to determine after the drug is on the market. 91. Id. at 235; see also Girard, supra note 10, at Kesselheim, supra note 90, at Burroughs, supra note 29, at Kesselheim, supra note 90, at ; see also Randall S. Stafford, Regulating OffLabel Drug Use Rethinking the Role of the FDA, 358 N. ENGL. J. MED. 1400, 1427 (2008). 95. See generally Applications For FDA Approval To Market A New Drug, 21 C.F.R Stafford, supra note 94, at 1427.

16 422 B. It is Constitutionally Questionable for Government to Limit Truthful Commercial Speech About Off-Label Uses The regulations and enforcement actions discussed herein give rise to serious questions about whether, and when, the government can prevent the truthful exchange of scientific information between a drug company and a physician or other health care providers. In July 2008, the United States Government Accountability Office ( GAO ) submitted a Report to the U.S. Senate entitled Prescription Drugs: FDA s Oversight of the Promotion of Drugs for Off-Label Uses. 97 Although focused on the facts of FDA regulatory positions, and not the constitutionality of those positions, the GAO reflects the incongruity of the restrictions on speech: FDA does not generally regulate the exchange of scientific information, but when such information is provided by or on behalf of a drug company regarding one of the company s products, the information may be subject to the labeling and advertising provisions of the law and regulations. For example, while information provided at CME programs such as medical conferences and professional gatherings intended to enhance physicians knowledge and enable them to meet certain practice requirements is not generally subject to FDA regulation, it will be if the program has been funded and substantially influenced by a drug company. Similarly, FDA s position is that companies may respond to unsolicited requests for information from health care professionals, even if responding to requests requires the companies to provide information regarding off-label uses.98 It is reasonable to question whether these rather fine distinctions regarding when and by whom truthful information may be shared with physicians inure to the best interests of the medical community and the public. If off-label uses are recognized as appropriate and necessary in certain circumstances, why limit when and how industry can speak? Burroughs et al. succinctly traced the First Amendment concerns in this context.99 The constitutional question sprang from the December 1997 FDA Guidance on Industry-Supported Scientific and Educational Activities ( Guidance ).100 Not surprisingly, the Guidance described a drug company s dissemination of scientific information as promotional 97. U.S. GOV T ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE, GAO , FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION: OVERSIGHT OF THE PROMOTION OF DRUGS FOR OFF-LABEL USES (2008), available at Id. at Burroughs, supra note 29, at Final Guidance on Industry-Supported Scientific and Educational Activities, 62 Fed. Reg. 64,074 (Dec. 3, 1997).

17 423 material which can be regulated; but it noted that the same information is not promotional and subject to regulation when circulated by the CME provider, or even by the drug company in response to a specific question.101 Soon thereafter, the Washington Legal Foundation brought a lawsuit raising a First Amendment challenge to the regulation.102 The court ruled in favor of the Foundation noting that under the FDA approach a great deal of truthful information will also be embargoed. In this case, the truthful information may be life saving information, or information that makes a life within a debilitating condition more comfortable. 103 Next, the Food and Drug Modernization Act was passed, amending the FDCA and subjecting a manufacturer to criminal penalties for the dissemination of information.104 In 1999, the district court ruled in Washington Legal Foundation v. Friedman that this statute barred truthful speech about off-label uses and violated the First Amendment.105 On appeal, the FDA abandoned its position and stipulated that neither the Guidance document nor the new legislation provides the FDA with independent authority to regulate manufacturer speech. 106 The United States Supreme Court subsequently found a different provision of the legislation to be unconstitutional.107 The basis for the decision is instructive of how the Court would likely view the restrictions discussed herein. In Thompson v. Western States Medical Center, the FDA sought to regulate the compounding of new drugs by pharmacies.108 In particular, the FDA sought to ban any advertising that compounded drugs are available.109 The government argued that the FDA s experience with drug regulation demonstrates that proof of the safety and effectiveness of a new drug needs to be established by rigorous, scientifically valid clinical studies because impressions of individual doctors, who cannot themselves compile sufficient safety data, cannot be relied upon. 110 The challenge to the legislation noted that obtaining approval from the FDA is costly and would effectively eliminate the availability of compounded drugs for those patients who have no alternative treatment Final Guidance on Industry-Supported Scientific and Educational Activities, 62 Fed. Reg. at 64, Wash. Legal Found. v. Friedman, 13 F. Supp. 2d 51 (D.C. Cir. 1998) Id. at U.S.C. 331(z) (1997) Wash. Legal Found. v. Henney, 56 F. Supp. 2d 81, (D.C. Cir. 1999) Wash. Legal Found. v. Henney, 202 F.3d 331, 336 (D.C. Cir. 2000) 107. Thompson v. W. States Med. Ctr., 535 U.S. 357, (2002) Id U.S.C. 353(a) Id. at Thompson, 535 U.S. at 369.

18 424 According to the Court, the government had argued that speech restrictions are justified because there is fear that advertising compounded drugs would lead to people getting them even if they do not need them. 112 Tellingly, the Court rejected this logic: Aside from the fact that this concern rests on the questionable assumption that doctors would prescribe unnecessary medications... this concern amounts to a fear that people would make bad decisions if given truthful information about compounded drugs.... We have previously rejected the notion that the Government has an interest in preventing the dissemination of truthful commercial information in order to prevent members of the public from making bad decisions with the information.113 In the end, the Supreme Court held that the FDA ban on advertising of compounded drugs was unconstitutional because it did not satisfy the Central Hudson114 test setting forth the protections governing commercial speech. After these challenges, and presumably because of them, the FDA often has not aggressively enforced the off-label promotion rules. Thus, the DOJ false claims prosecutions have taken precedence. Another case, Sorrell v. IMS Health, Inc.,115 considered a Vermont statute that attempted to restrict pharmaceutical companies from using prescription data for marketing purposes when doctors and other parties are permitted to use the same data.116 The Supreme Court found that this restriction was content- and speaker-based, and rejected the state s argument that it constituted mere commercial regulation.117 [S]peech in aid of pharmaceutical marketing, however, is a form of expression protected by the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment. As a consequence, Vermont s statute must be subjected to heightened judicial scrutiny. 118 Vermont argued that its statute was intended to diminish the likelihood that marketing efforts would lead to prescription decisions that were in neither the patients nor the state s best interests.119 Though significant, the Court found that these interests did not satisfy the heightened scrutiny standard and could not justify the restrictions imposed Id. at 370. Id. at 374. Cent. Hudson Gas & Elec. Corp. v. Pub. Serv. Comm n, 447 U.S. 557, 566 (1980). Sorrell v. IMS Health Inc., 131 S. Ct (2011). Id. See also VT. STAT. ANN. tit.18, 4631(d) (2012). Sorrell, 131 S. Ct. at Id. at Id. at Id. at

19 425 Collectively, these opinions give rise to serious questions about whether the government s current interpretation of the law could withstand constitutional scrutiny. Recently, the Second Circuit has held that it does not.121 In Caronia,122 the court found that a drug company representative s truthful statements about off-label uses for the pharmaceutical Xyrem were protected under the First Amendment.123 Mr. Caronia was caught on tape promoting Xyrem for off-label uses, including the treatment of excessive pain associated with fibromyalgia.124 Because Xyrem was approved by the FDA to treat only certain narcolepsy patients, the government charged Mr. Caronia with two misdemeanor counts of introducing a misbranded drug into commerce and conspiracy to introduce a misbranded drug into commerce in violation of 21 U.S.C. 331(a) and 333(a)(2).125 Echoing its argument in Washington Legal Foundation,126 the government denied that it was attempting to regulate speech.127 Rather, it claimed to introduce Mr. Caronia s off-label promotional speech simply as evidence of his intent to conspire to sell a misbranded drug.128 After a jury trial, Mr. Caronia was found guilty and sentenced to one year of probation, 100 hours of community service and a twenty-five dollar special assessment.129 On appeal of Mr. Caronia s conviction, the majority relied heavily upon Sorrell and found that the FDCA s misbranding provision must be subject to heightened scrutiny because it is a content- and speaker-based restriction and involves a criminal penalty.130 Applying the four-pronged Central Hudson analysis, the Second Circuit held that the FDA misbranding regulations are too broad to support the government s objective of promoting drug safety and public health and that government interests can be served equally well through more limited and targeted restrictions on speech.131 Accordingly, even if speech can serve as evidence of a drug s intended use, the court interpreted the misbranding provisions of the FDCA to not prohibit or criminalize the truthful off-label promotion of FDAapproved prescription drugs. 132 Therefore, the government cannot 121. United States v. Caronia, 703 F.3d 149, 168 (2d Cir. 2012) Id Id Id. at Id. at 155, See Wash. Legal Found. v. Friedman, 13 F. Supp. 2d 51, 59 (D.C. Cir. 1998), amended by 36 F. Supp. 2d 16 (D.C. Cir. 1999) and amended by 36 F. Supp. 2d 418 (1999), appeal dismissed sub nom. Wash. Legal Found. v. Henney, 202 F.3d 331 (D.C. Cir. 2000) Caronia, 703 F.3d at Id. at Id Id. at Id. at Id. at 168.

20 426 prosecute pharmaceutical manufacturers and their representatives under the FDCA for speech promoting the lawful, off-label use of an FDA-approved drug. 133 Whether this rejection of the government s ability to prosecute pharmaceutical manufacturers and their representatives for truthful speech about off-label uses will be followed in other Circuits remains to be seen. IV. ILLUSTRATIVE FACTUAL SCENARIOS INVOLVING OFF-LABEL PROMOTION EVIDENCE Undoubtedly, pharmaceutical company representatives sometimes oversell products for off-label uses, pushing profit before safety. As Kesselheim describes: Detailing can lead to overuse of drugs with dangerous side effect profiles. [Vioxx] is a good example for this analysis. The drug was an analgesic, and thus the manufacturer could legally engage in promotion of its use to control certain types of pain.... However, the manufacturer s multi-billion dollar promotional effort led to its widespread adoption outside of this narrow context. This became a public health disaster when rofecoxib was later publicly linked to cardiovascular complications.134 If everything in the government s many complaints against manufacturers is true, it would seem that there is an epidemic of this type of activity. But as discussed earlier, in light of the lack of clarity in the regulations regarding what is and is not lawful promotion, along with the fatal sanction of exclusion from participation in federal health care programs, the cases actually decided on the merits are few and far between. When cases settle, we are left without conclusive information about the true facts of the company s conduct. Furthermore, as is so often seen in the context of mass tort litigation, judges and juries across the country reach conflicting decisions about the scientific merits of product liability cases every day. In the context of silicone breast implant litigation in the 1990s, for example, tens of thousands of cases were pending, and many were tried in front of a jury with conflicting results. In New Orleans, Louisiana135 and Reno, Nevada,136 spectacular jury verdicts against the silicone manufacturers were achieved by women with implants. Yet, in cases 133. Id. at Kesselheim, supra note 90, at Spitzfaden v. Dow Corning Corp., 833 So.2d 512, 515 (La. Ct. App. 2002) (noting finding of liability in statewide class action) Dow Chemical Co. v. Mahlum, 970 P.2d 98, 106 (Nev. 1998) (reporting award of over $4 million in actual damages and $10 million punitive damages award to an implant recipient and her spouse).